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Grieving Community Remembers Departed Teens

IMG_0049EAST COUNTY — Hundreds turned out Sunday evening for a candlelight prayer vigil at Caney Creek High School in Grangerland, in memory of the astounding number of students from that school who have died over the past few years. The vigil was prompted by the latest tragedy that occurred last Wednesday when a motor vehicle crash claimed the life of 16-year-old CCHS student Halie McDonald and left another student seriously injured.

A partial list, compiled over the few days available to plan the vigil showed the names of 20 students who died while attending CCHS since 2005, with 12 of those deaths occurring in 2011 and two so far this year. The list of unfinished lives was part of a program handed out at the vigil. Above the list were the words, “It’s not goodbye, it’s simply see you later. Below a poem on the opposite page was a quote used during the service and on some of the collages and other items, “The creek will rise and overcome.”

Caney Creek students were out of school for Spring Break last week and will return to classes Monday for the first time since McDonald’s death. Organizers Aprile Cowley, Gayla Salisbury and Melissa Clements gave them an opportunity to come together before that hard first day back.

Kimberly Wisdom, a senior at Caney Creek, said she knew Monday would be very emotional for everyone.

“It’s going to hit us all more because they’re not going to be there,” Wisdom said. “It’s not really real yet.”

As the sun began to set, the high school parking lot became crowded with people from infants to the elderly, but mostly brokenhearted teens. Some wore shirts or pins honoring the deceased and some carried balloons, and even a decorated wooden cross. Photo collages were attached to the fence, along with flowers, Mylar balloons, and other mementos.

The names were read, the candles were lit, and a young female sang a haunting rendition of Kenny Chesney’s song, “Who you’d be today” as many wept openly and held one another.

Pastor Josh Henry of Life Cowboy Church delivered a message. Shortly after he uttered the words, “Things don’t happen for no reason at all,” the wind carried the eerie sound of emergency sirens in the distance as if to provide one more reminder of life’s unpredictability.

Henry spoke to the crowd about turning to God in coping with loss and recounted a personal story about a high school classmate of his who seemed to be on the path to a successful and happy future, but died suddenly like the students on the list.

The event officially ended with prayer and balloons were released, but many lingered, comforting one another and reminiscing.

Chelsea Kelly, another CCHS senior, has seen far too many classmates lost and said the most difficult part is returning to school and seeing how upset the deaths make the other students.

Kelly was a close friend of Halie McDonald, and was still trying to wrap her mind around the loss of her friend as she attended the Sunday night vigil.

“It’s hard because we were just with Haley Sunday,” Kelly said. She then became too choked up to finish speaking.

Twelfth-grader Cody Britton was a close friend of Jason Lewis, a popular CCHS football star who died last June at the age of 17.

Britton remembers Lewis a “good leader” who people followed and listened, and also a “good person.” Britton was with Lewis’s family when they learned of his death. Nine months later, it was still difficult for him to speak about, but he went to the vigil to honor his fallen friend.

Chis Bell, another CCHS senior, was friends with Halie McDonald and Dustin Kellogg who died in a car crash last October. Kellogg was also one of Caney Creek’s star athletes. A talented and determined baseball player, Kellogg was a Houston Astros draft pick who everyone believed was destined for greatness when he died in a head-on collision with an 18-wheeler.

Bell remembers Kellogg not only as a great friend, but as a real sportsman and someone who “always had your back, whether he knew you or not.” Bell said McDonald was an outgoing person, who was always really sweet and a “best friend to everybody.”

Of so many deaths during his years at Caney Creek High School, Bell said the students were “going through a lot right now.”

“All of our students and our school really need a break,” he said.

Bell said so many deaths have caused him to pay more attention driving and he no longer texts when he is behind the wheel.

“I think it’s a big wakeup call,” he said. “We all just need to realize anything can happen and it doesn’t matter if your fault or somebody else’s.”

The students are not the only ones trying to make sense of things. Halie McDonald’s uncle, Brent Basham, was also at the vigil to honor his lost niece, who he called a “bouncy and good natured child” who was “very respectful of everybody she came into contact with.”

“It’s tearing us apart,” Basham said.

After the vigil disbursed, many of the students stopped by the makeshift memorial at the spot of the crash that killed Halie McDonald. They left heart-shaped balloons, flowers, and other items before heading home to prepare for a very hard week. Visitation is scheduled for Monday evening from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Cashner Funeral Home and services are scheduled for Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Cashner Colonial Chapel with interment following in Garden Park Cemetery.

Below is the partial list of Caney Creek High School students who have died since 2005:

Halie McDonald 1995-2012

Austin Hunt 1991-2012

Justin Crouch 1989-2011

Ivan Mendoza 1992-2011

Dustin Kellogg 1993-2011

Kayanna Jeanes 1990-2011

Cassie Marlow 1991-2011

Jason Lewis 1994-2011

Chase Hawkins 1991-2011

Emily Jones 1992-2011

Jody Bell 1988-2011

Michael Emmons 1997-2011

Charles Raggett 1991-2011

Nick Metz 1994-2011

Hope Johnson 1992-2009

Trinity Dean-Stovall 1996-2009

Scott Lopez 1983-2009

Dustin Prine 1989-2006

Cody Cook 1993-2006

John Swearingen 1987-2005

“The creek will rise and overcome.”

 

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